By DANIELLA LANGIANESE
Star Staff Reporter
dani@bradfordstar.com
OLEAN — The Tri-County Arts Council presents “A Natural Connection” at its West State Street Gallery in Olean. The public is invited to a public reception on Saturday, May 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 110 West State Street, featuring art by Denise Drummond of Bradford, Pennsylvania, and Joseph Grice of Jamestown, New York.
Denise Drummond.
Denise Drummond grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania. She developed a love for nature at a very young age. She began sketching nature scenes, including wild animals, at just two years old and began selling her artwork as a teenager.
Drummond is a self-taught landscape and portrait artist. In 1980, she began working as a freelance artist. She works primarily in graphite [pencil] and watercolor paints, creating original nature scenes. Drummond loves to capture images from the Allegany National Forest and other local wilderness areas. Her work is displayed and collected worldwide.
“My artwork is an attempt to capture and hold the love I have for nature and wild places, especially our national parks and wilderness areas. I am intrigued and drawn in by every twig on the branches of trees,” said Drummond. “Most of my drawings and paintings show all of that detail, from the leaves on trees to the ferns on the forest floor.”
Joseph Grice.
Joseph Grice is an accomplished wildlife illustrator, who lives and works in Jamestown, New York. Grice graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from SUNY Fredonia in 2010. After graduating, Grice taught art at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts in Jamestown and the Holt School of Fine Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Grice began his artistic career painting birds. Growing up, Grice watched birds and admired the art work in the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guidebooks. Building on his love of birds, Grice created a series on birds.
In 2023, Grice completed an artist residency, followed by a solo exhibition at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown. During Grice’s solo exhibition, he used multiple mediums including: oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, and digital illustration.
Grice noted, “Birds are like living, breathing works of art; their colors and patterns dance through the skies and treetops, making our world a more beautiful place to live.” Grice continued, “[Birds] symbolize hope, showing us that we have the strength to overcome adversity. They remind us to be fierce, elegant, communal, and kind — to be unapologetically ourselves.”
Grice’s recent works explore the connections that humans make with nature and how nature can heal and give people hope when they are in need.
“My bird portraits not only speak to the beauty of the creatures that we share our planet with but also remind us of the traits within ourselves that make us uniquely human,” said Grice.
Tri-County Arts Council director, Paula Bernstein said, “[w]e’re so excited to have these two incredible artists in the gallery. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves the great outdoors!”
Drummond and Grice’s art is currently on display and will remain so, at the Tri-County Arts Council on West State Street until June 15 in the Peg Bothner Gallery.
For more information, please visit https://www.tricountyartscouncil.org/ or call (716) 244-2943. The Tri-County Arts Council is located at 110 West State Street.
